Blue Clouds by Patricia Rice

Author:Patricia Rice
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Book View Cafe
Published: 2012-06-11T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

Doug was showing Chad how to play cat’s cradle and Pippa was on the telephone with one of Seth’s CEOs when Seth finally sauntered into Chad’s room, freshly shaved and looking better than he had in days. Her stomach did a couple of knee jerks at the sight, but she managed her best professional nod as his gaze immediately swept in her direction. She ignored the accusation in his eyes. He couldn’t say a damned thing while Doug was here.

Chad shouted for his father to see what he could do, then instantly launched into a bout of coughing. Pippa hung up the phone and calmly handed him a bowl to spit into. When he had the cough under control, she pushed him back into the pillows. “Time to rest, young man. Just close your eyes and breathe deeply for a little while.”

“Don’t want to,” he protested, although he didn’t sit up again.

“You want to go swimming again?” she reminded him.

“Yeah.” Scowling, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, his narrow pajama shirt moving up and down with the effort.

Beside Doug’s massive hands, Chad looked tiny and too frail, and Pippa watched the big man shake his head in dismay.

She touched his arm and shook her head. “He’s strong. He’ll be fine. Make sure we’ve got plenty of Coke.”

She could swear the ex-football player was blinking back tears. He nodded carefully before looking at her with a surprisingly shrewd gaze. “You’re a witchy woman, girl. You watch it, okay?”

Pippa bit back a smile and didn’t look at Seth until his chauffeur left the room. Then she sent him a warning look. “Chad’s not asleep.”

Seth glanced down at the boy, the look of love so blatant in his eyes that Pippa thought her heart would burst. What had happened last night was simply an extension of Seth’s love for his son. She understood that, just as she understood that patients frequently thought themselves in love with their nurses. He was grateful, and he’d needed someone to reach out to as much as she had. It had been a mistake. They’d both known it. Now it was over.

When Seth looked up again, he’d retreated behind the mask of remoteness he’d cultivated until it had become a part of him. He nodded toward the corner of the room.

She didn’t want to go. She didn’t want to hear what he had to say, whether it was words of regret or apology or demand. She wanted everything to go back to the way it had been before. But she’d blown that last night.

Okay, so she had to face the music. Straightening her spine, keeping a stiff upper lip, she marched to the far corner of the room where they could speak with some semblance of privacy.

“You should have woken me up.”

Those weren’t exactly the words she’d been prepared for. Pippa dared a quizzical glance at Seth’s expression. She could read nothing into it.

“You needed your sleep.”

“I’m not your patient. Let me be the judge of that.

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